Astrophysics > High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Title:
Radionovas: can black hole superradiance power Fast Radio Bursts?

Abstract: Highly spinning Kerr black holes with masses $M = 1 - 100\ M_{\odot}$ are
subject to an efficient superradiant instability in the presence of bosons with
masses $\mu \sim 10^{-10} - 10^{-12} eV$. We observe that this precisely
matches the effective plasma-induced photon mass in diffuse galactic or
intracluster environments ($\omega_{pl} \sim 10^{-10} - 10^{-12}\ eV$). This
suggests that bare Kerr black holes within galactic or intracluster
environments, possibly even including the one produced in GW150914, are
unstable to formation of a photon cloud that may contain a significant fraction
of the mass of the original black hole. At maximal efficiency, the instability
timescale for a massive vector is milliseconds, potentially leading to a
transient rate of energy extraction from a black hole as large as $\sim 10^{55}
erg \, s^{-1}$. We discuss mechanisms for releasing the energy in the photon
cloud, including a possible connection to Fast Radio Bursts.